Hunter Mistakes Father for Deer, Kills Him: NY State Police

The son hasn't been charged

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A 24-year-old man mistook his father for a deer and shot the older man to death while hunting near the family's central New York home on Thanksgiving, state police say.

Kristopher Paro was in a tree stand in the woods behind his home in the Oswego County town of Sandy Creek around 4:40 p.m. Thursday when he heard what he thought was a deer about 100 yards away, troopers said.

Paro fired a shot, unaware that his father, 58-year-old Kevin Paro, had gone into the woods a short time earlier to hunt, state police said. Troopers say the father was hit in the chest by a round from his son's .270-caliber rifle.

The older man was taken to Oswego Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.